Monster
by Shahar Mystral
Summary: Felicity never realised that by agreeing to be the Hood's IT girl that she would be getting quite so involved in his quest to save Starling City. Will she be able to protect her heart and the people of Starling City, when she starts putting her life in the hands of Oliver Queen?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter**** 1 - ****BAD****BOY**

"What was it about bad boys that made them so dangerously alluring?"

The question circled through Felicity's mind like 90's song on repeat. Three failed relationships with men with bad boy reputations should have been enough for someone as intelligent as Felicity to realise that bad boys were always trouble for someone like her.

Her high school and college days had taught her that bad boys saw her as little more with a brain and a quick and easy loay because obviously she wasn't popular enough to be anything other than desperate.

No matter how many times she told herself that she would find herself a nice guy, a man who would treat her well, she couldn't seem to stay away from those tempting bad boys.

Well, he's hardly a boy, her mind whispered, as her eyes flickered away from the computer monitor momentarily to watch Oliver work his way through a series of combative katas.

Everything about him screamed raw male sexuality.

She took in the way his muscles rippled as he moved fluidly through a series of intense punches and kicks. Sweat glittered on his brow only to disappear into the shadow of his beard. His eyes were a sharp, clear blue and narrowed in concentration as he fought demons only he could see.

For a moment, it was all Felicity could do to blink, overwhelmed by the image he presented.

No, the man in front of her could hardly be called a boy. Maybe only if she was ninety years old, her mind reasoned, would she be able to call Oliver a boy. But even then, that wouldn't be quite right.

There was a pain in his eyes that all but screamed, that Oliver had been aged far beyond his years. He had lived through hell and it had changed him. She hadn't known him before the island, but from what she had heard and what she knew about him, he was a completely different person. One who had a dark side that was completely unafraid of things that most normal people would shy away from. It amazed her that people didn't notice the difference. Maybe they only saw what they wanted to see, or Oliver was a better liar than she gave him credit for.

Either way, he was definitely bad.

Not in the regular sense though. While she was sure he could be an absolute jerk if he wanted, Oliver was the bad boy who had seen violence and knew how to dish it right back out. She'd seen his moves when he and Diggle practiced and she knew that Oliver was a man who had been hardened by pain.

Oliver was, ultimately, the quintessential bad boy. Good looking, brooding, dangerous with a hint of broken that every girl dreamed of fixing. Even if she knew better.

"And that, Felicity is why you should stay away from him." She muttered as she turned her attention back to her screen.

"Stay away from who?"

Felicity jumped reflexively and spun round to confront Diggle. She smiled nervously. Inwardly, she cursed herself a million types of fool. It had been ages since she had last spoken out loud and it was a habit she thought she had lost. Clearly the stress was clearly getting to her.

Her mind went painfully blank for a long second as Diggle waited for an answer. "Um..." With perfect timing, her computer beeped, supplying her with the perfect answer. "Marco de Santos, of course." Her anxiety made her answer louder than normal, breaking Oliver's concentration and drawing his attention to her and Diggle.

He paused mid-kata and strode over to her work station, barely pausing to grab a towel to dry off with. "What did you find?"

"Nothing good by the look of it." Felicity said, resolutely avoiding Diggle's eye. "But you suspected as much." She paused to give Oliver the evil eye. "I don't know why you need me to run the background searches anyway. Most of the information comes off Google as it is."

Oliver grinned. "But you can get us into that." He leaned over her shoulder to point at Starling City's police dockets.

Feeling slightly more appreciated, she nodded and looked back to the screen. "Well, just scrolling through the police records, it looks like he has been accused of human trafficking on at least three different occasions but none of the evidence has held up in court. The police suspect bribery was at work but nothing was proven." Scooting closer to the computer, Felicity straightened her glasses and began clicking through the information. "It says here that he lures women in by claiming to be a job broker. Not only does he demand an upfront payment for his services, but people have also disappeared once work has been "found". Of course, he just claims that they have just left because they got the job they were looking for. Women are his main targets in particular but there have been some instances of men allegedly disappearing too. You've picked a nasty one here." She said turning round to face Oliver.

Only to come face to come "face" with his toned, scarred and tattooed stomach. Immediately she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Did you get these on the island?" Her hand rose unbidden to point at the Chinese characters running down his stomach.

Oliver glanced down, saw where her hand was pointing and stepped back. "Yes." He bit out. He moved away and pulled on a shirt.

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him what they meant but she knew a defensive person when she saw one.

Thankfully Diggle choose that moment to ask a question, saving her from more blunders.

"These people who go missing, is there any sort of pattern? Why do they not get the jobs but others do?"

Taking the cue to redeem herself, Felicity was quick to answer, "I'd have to analyse the data, but from what I noticed, it was family background. Or rather the lack thereof."

"So in other words, people who don't have family to miss them?"

She nodded.

Silence fell among the group as they considered what to do next. As usual, Felicity's eyes followed Oliver as he moved around his equipment.

"You know what this means, don't you, Oliver?" Diggle said, softly. "We will need to go undercover. Unless you know anyone in the Glades who recently lost their job and is planning to go to this guy."

"That's not true." Oliver replied. "What Felicity's found is more than enough to warrant a visit from the Hood." He frowned as though he had just eaten something unpleasant. 'I really hate that name."

Desperately trying to hide grin at the last comment, Felicity cleared her throat. "Actually I would have to disagree."

"With what?" Oliver asked.

"I thought that the Hood, I mean the vigilante, or rather you, Oliver - oh you know, who you are, wanted justice." Felicity said, getting flustered by her own mistakes.

Oliver looked bemused. "Of course I do."

"Then you can't go running around just threatening people to turn themselves in."

Oliver shrugged, unconcerned. "It's worked in the past."

"No, Oliver. Felicity's right." Diggle interrupted. "The Hood has gained a positive reputation recently and I think we should use that to our advantage."

"I am not doing this to be some sort of hero."

"No," Felicity agreed, "but the people of this city need a hero and to them that's exactly what you are."

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before sighing. "Fine. So what do you propose I do? I'm a little too well known to be go undercover and I don't think my mob connections will be able to help me out here."

"You have mob connections?" Felicity squeaked. "Wow, you really are a bad boy."

When both Oliver and Diggle looked quizzically at her, Felicity blushed brightly. "I really need to stop doing that."

Rolling their eyes at her odd behaviour, Diggle said to Oliver. "_You_ don't need to go undercover. I could do it. Isn't that why you asked me to be your partner? To do the things you couldn't."

Felicity couldn't stop the snort of amusement that Diggle's statement produced. "I don't think you are quite what de Santos is looking for. Not with all _that__._" She gestured at his decidedly masculine figure. "There is nothing feminine about you. I'd have more chance of getting in."

There was a long silence after that statement and Felicity found herself the subject of some intense scrutiny. "What?"

"No." Diggle turned to Oliver, completely ignoring her. "We can't put her into a dangerous situation like that."

"She'd be perfect." Oliver said softly.

He glanced over at her, studying her intently. Felicity had never felt so self-conscious in her life. It was a perusal like nothing she had ever felt before. It wasn't a sexual thing. Oliver was judging her ability to handle herself. She sat a little straighter in her chair, hoping for some strange reason that she'd meet his approval.

"But you're right." He said finally. "It's not her job. We'll have to come up with another idea."

For some reason, his quick dismissal hurt her more than she expected. There were few things that upset her as much as being dismissed out of hand. With more courage than she realised had, Felicity stood up, needing on be on equal terms with the men who towered over her.

Clearing her throat nervously, she said, "Actually I think that I'm the best chance for you to get this guy. I know I said that I was only helping to find out what happened to Walter, but if I can do something to help the woman in this city, then I am in."

"Felicity, this isn't a quick, safe, hacking job." Diggle said, the concern evident in his voice. "You aren't trained to handle something like this."

"And you are?" She bit back.

"Damn right, I am." He yanked his tie loose, clearly frustrated. "I've had military training, you haven't."

"So what do you call all our training? Just playing? 'Cause I was under the impression that you were actually teaching me how to defend myself.'

"I was."

"So what's the problem then? I'm not going to try and take this guy down by myself. That's Oliver's job. I just need to get the proof you need to nail de Santos." She gestured angrily at her computer screen where de Santos's face leered out at them. "I'm tired of seeing this city fall apart around me too."

Oliver, who had been silent the whole time, interrupted softly. "The last time you got involved, you ended up with a bomb strapped to your neck."

Felicity swallowed hard, her hand reaching up to touch her neck where the bomb had rested. She had to force her words out as the terror of that night came back to her. "That's different. I went in blindly, completely unprepared. I am not going to make the same mistake again. I want to do this. I want to help."

Oliver stared down at her intently. "If you're sure?"

"Oliver!" Diggle began, just as Felicity nodded, "I'm in."

* * *

**Author****'****s ****Note****:** Reviews are always welcome. This is my first time writing for this fandom and I am hoping that I have them suitably in-character. Please let me know if and where they diverge so I can work on getting this right. Also any grammatical mistakes or typos that get picked up, please let me know so I can fix it. There is always one which seems to escape my proof reading.

I hope you enjoyed this and that you are looking forward to chapter 2.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter****Two**** - ****LIES**

"Again." Oliver's voice barked out.

Wearily, Felicity shoved her hair away from her face. When Oliver had asked her to swing by the club this morning with her training clothes, she hadn't expected to be put through her paces quite like this. While Diggle was a stern taskmaster, Oliver was borderline navy seal material.

Panting slightly, she clenched her fists tightly and launched herself at Oliver for what must have been the hundredth time that morning. For a brief second, she made contact with his chest before her arm was jerked behind her back, and she was shoved away as Oliver sidestepped and deflected her attack.

"Better," he grunted, "but you need to be faster. Considering your body size, you have to react quicker than you enemies. You're light and nimble, and it can give you the advantage of surprise, especially since people don't expect it from you. You don't really have the strength or the skills for a long, drawn-out -"

Without warning, Felicity leapt at Oliver, trying to take advantage of his relaxed stance as he lectured her. She saw his eyes widen in surprise at her sudden movement. A second later, her hand was jabbing at his throat, while her knee was aiming for a blow to his groin. Just like Oliver and Diggle had shown her.

For a moment, she was sure that she was going to beat him, but no sooner had the thought crossed her mind, then her breath had been knocked out of her and she was lying flat on her back on the training mat, staring at the frowning man who stepped into view.

Even as she struggled to suck oxygen into her aching lungs, she couldn't help but feel intimidated by the steely-eyed man who dominated the room. She blinked up at him, as she tried to remind herself why she was putting herself through this torture. She was doing this for the people of Starling City, because they had been beaten for so long that they had forgotten that they had a backbone.

As she lay on the floor of the Hood's hideout, thinking about her new role, her delay caused concern to quickly fill Oliver's eyes as he stuck out a hand to pull her up. "Are you alright?" He asked, grasping her hand tightly in his and drawing her to her feet. "Sorry about that. You caught me by surprise and I reacted without thinking it through."

"I'm alright, I think." Felicity groaned as stretched slightly. "The island must have been hell, if that's how you react instinctively. Not that I believe in hell, 'cause you know, I'm Jewish, but if it were real, then I imagine it came quite close."

"It lived up to its name." Oliver grunted, the steel and pain reappearing in his eye. The look, however, was quickly replaced with one of concern when Felicity let out a groan of pain. "Damnit," He winced apologetically. "What did I hurt?"

"My shoulder." She grimaced as she rotated her right arm slowly.

"Let me see." Oliver said, stepping behind her. Gently, he pressed his hand against her shoulder blade before massaging the muscle between her neck and shoulder. "I think I might have pulled it a little when I threw you."

Felicity winced at the first touch, but soon the pain began to dissipate and she felt the muscle relax. Before she knew it, her head was lolling to the side as she savoured the sensation. "Where were you and your magic hands when I was pulling all nighters at university?"

"Probably doing my best to waste my parent's money. Sit." He ordered suddenly.

"Huh?" Felicity turned to look at him, confusion clear on her face.

Tilting his head patiently and giving her an unimpressed stare, he repeated himself. "Just sit. Trust me."

Sighing as though it was a major ordeal, Felicity crossed her legs and sat on the training mat.

Seating himself behind her, Oliver began to gently massage both her shoulders, and Felicity felt her body start to go limp.

"You don't strike me as the type student to leave assignments to the night before." Oliver said after a moment.

"Oh, I'm not." Felicity was quick to reassure him. "I just used to lose myself in my work. I'd sit down to work on it and then lose track of time completely. I am like a dog with a bone when it come to problems. I hate not knowing something. It drives me mad. You won't believe how many times I used to look up expecting it to be dark and I could see the beginnings of the dawn." Oliver could hear the smile in her voice as she continued. "I used to love sitting up for a few extra minutes to watch the sun rise. It was my way of rewarding myself for completing my assignments."

Oliver grinned. "I was the complete opposite when it came to college. Dawn was usually a sign that the party was over and it was time to head back to bed. My assignments were always completed the day before or on the morning of. So naturally they weren't all that good. If I had known then, what I know now, things would have been completely different."

"What do you regret the most about your college days?" Felicity asked softly.

Oliver was quiet for a long time. "I think I regret wasting my time the way I did. I missed chances to learn and I missed chances to spend time with my family, and now its too late."

"What do you mean? You still have your mom and Thea."

"In a way, yes." He hedged. "But I can't be the man I want to be around them. I have an image to keep up and it keeps me from getting close to people, especially my family." Oliver gave one final rub and stood up. "Anyway, enough about that. I think you've had enough for today. I don't want to damage your arm any more. So consider the training over."

"Am I at least improving?" Felicity asked as she stood up. Her anxiety about her new undercover job had begun to weigh heavily on her mind. Suddenly everything seemed shockingly soon.

Oliver smiled proudly and nodded. "You know enough to be able to defend yourself should the need arise. At worst, you will be able to fend off your attackers until the Hood can get to you."

"Thanks. I don't know why I feel anxious about this all of a sudden." She giggled nervously. "I mean, it's not like I actually have to do anything major, although I have a sudden urge to enrol in an acting class, but I don't think I will be able to pick up much in a few days. Although, you never know, I could be a budding actress, just waiting to be discovered, like Carrie Fisher. Even the roles are similar, well kinda anyway, she was a princess but she was a slave for a bit in Star Wars, Episode VII." She turned to Oliver, her eyes wide with panic. "But that's not going to happen to me, right?

Oliver looked at her steadily, halting her panicked ramble as she opened her mouth to continue. "If you don't feel comfortable about doing this, you can bow out at anytime. You don't have to do this."

Felicity shook her head quickly. "Just because I am nervous, doesn't mean that I shouldn't do this. Its just a case of the nerves. I'll calm down eventually." She wrung her hands together briefly before shaking them and forming fists. "Maybe you should have let me smack you at least once. Then I wouldn't feel so insecure."

Oliver grinned at her. "If that's what you feel you need to feel good about this, then by all means." He held his arms apart as an invitation.

"Are you serious?"

"No ways." He pulled a face. "What if you hurt me? It would be a blow to my manly pride." He clutched a hand to his heart. "I'd never recover."

"Oh please," Felicity scoffed. "You're raw male sex appeal. Someone like me would never be able to put a damper on that." As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a massive blush appear on her face. "Anyway, your sexiness, I mean, your manly pride aside, I am going to head to Goodwill this afternoon to get clothes for Monday's meeting with de Santos. I'll probably only see you on Monday, unless something comes up and then I'll see you sooner."

Used to her ramblings, Oliver just nodded stoically. If that was one thing that Felicity appreciated about Oliver, it was the fact that he never made her feel more awkward than she already did.

Taking that as a cue to leave, Felicity hastily gathered her things and all but bolted from the room, her face bright with embarrassment.

As a result, she completely missed the broad grin that followed her out.

* * *

Chewing her lip in frustration, Felicity stared at the electronic mess in front of her. "I know I put that transistor somewhere." Her eyes scoured the tabletop, desperately seeking the elusive piece. "I know I saw it two seconds ago."

"Looking for this?" Came a voice out of the silence.

Felicity bit back a scream as she turned around, her screw driver raised in her hand like a weapon. "Oliver!" She gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Oliver looked at her quizzically as he handed her the transistor that he had picked up off the floor. "Well, last time I checked, this was my, um, "lair". So I think that question is actually for you."

"Oh yeah. Thanks." Felicity accepted the transistor and placed it on the table. "I guess my mind is still as single minded as it was at university. I keep thinking about the plan for de Santos so I wanted to start working on the bugging devices that we need for the next target. I was going to work from home, but most of the equipment I need is here." She shrugged brightly. "So here I am. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'm here for the same reason."

"To build a listening device?" She asked blankly.

"No." Oliver frowned. "I want to make sure my equipment was all sorted. I need to sharpen some of the heads of my new arrows, anyway."

"Weren't you supposed to have a date with McKenna this evening?" Felicity asked abruptly.

"She got called away." His voice was carefully devoid of all emotion. "Apparently something she's been working on came through."

"Nothing to do with you, I hope?"

"Not that I am aware of." He grinned. "The Hood has been a little quiet lately so they shouldn't have much to work with."

Turning to give him her full attention, Felicity leant back in her chair. "So how's it going with her?"

"Don't you have a transmitter to build?" Oliver asked, trying to avoid the question.

"Yes, but I could do with a break. I was starting to go cross eyed." Felicity fixed him with a stern stare. "How are things between you and McKenna, Oliver?"

"Fine." He bit out. "What's it to you anyway?"

"Gee, sorry for taking an interest." Feeling inexplicably hurt, Felicity spun her chair round and stared blankly at the wires and components. "It's not like I would be able to help anyway." She muttered to herself. "'Cause its not like I am a girl who might understand. But whatever, carry on."

"Felicity..."

"Leave me alone, Oliver." She said, determined to ignore him. "You made it quite clear that you don't want to talk. Just leave me to finish my work and I'll get out of your way."

"Felicity," Oliver began again, a hint of remorse in his voice. "That's not what I meant." He ran a hand over his short hair in frustration before striding over to Felicity. Gripping the back of her chair, he turned it, forcing her to look at him. "It's awkward to talk about it, okay?"

Perplexed despite herself, Felicity frowned. "Why?"

"'Cause I am supposed to have a playboy reputation and its rather demeaning to say that my relationship's on the rocks. I need to stay close to McKenna 'cause she is my connection to keeping tabs on the police investigation for the Hood, but..." He trailed off.

"But you're not really feeling it?" Felicity guessed.

"I guess you could say that." He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not myself with her and its hard to connect when I am pretending to be someone else."

"Do you ever get tired of the lies?" She asked, softly.

He nodded.

"So why don't you just come clean? Be the real you."

Oliver laughed, low and mirthlessly. "People can't handle the real me. What I lived through... it changed me. People wouldn't understand. Its better for them if I just play the role of the irresponsible rich kid."

"And what about me then?" Felicity asked. "Which Oliver do I get to see?"

"The real one." He grimaced and walked away.

* * *

**Author****'****s ****Note****:** First off, WOW WOW WOW! Thank you all for the amazing response for the first chapter. It kinda blew my socks off. I never ever expected to have gotten 30 reviews for one chapter. We won't mention the number of you all.

As a result, chapter all but flew from my mind onto "paper". I was too excited not to work on this, inspite of my pressing workload. So I really hope that this chapter hits the spot and that you will continue to enjoy Monster.

Once again, if you spot any typos, errors and divergences from character, please let me know so I can fix it. Thank you all again and I look forward to hearing more from you.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter ****Three**** - ****What ****is ****Right**

"Are the arrangements all sorted?" Oliver asked quietly.

It was the day of Felicity's interview with the human trafficker, de Santos, and he and Diggle sat across from Felicity in the basement of his club, going over the last of the details before they infiltrated de Santos's office.

Felicity nodded. "As far as Queen Consolidated know, I'm attending a computer programming seminar upstate. Although its not something that I actually need, since I figured out how to work out the programme a while ago, but they don't know that. You'll be surprised what you can learn off Youtube tutorials. I won't deny though that I'm feeling rather guilty about lying to my employer," She glanced at Oliver, "but technically you are my employer and you know what I'm really doing. So can I actually get into trouble?"

"And your alias?" Oliver prompted, cutting her off before she started rambling and worked herself into a state.

"Right here." She handed Oliver a brown folder.

"Candice Doherty?" He frowned at her pseudonym.

Felicity shrugged. "I needed a name. Diggle helped me come up with it."

Oliver nodded and continued to flick through the file. He paused and frowned, one page catching his interest. Felicity knew he had reached her academic results and she had to bite back a shudder of her own.

"Are these legit?" He asked, waving the paper at her.

Felicity shocker her head quickly. "Of course not. As if I would have ever dropped out of school in freshman year of high school. I think I would have died if I had ever received so much as a D for anything. Although, maybe not." She chewed her lip slightly as she thought. "I did fail a Spanish test back in highschool, but only once," she was quick to reassure them, "and all I did was cry. For an hour or so. Nothing too drastic." She missed the look that Diggle and Oliver shared.

"Those are just marks that I made up that I thought were suitably mundane. It matches the character profile Diggle and I created. They do look rather real though, don't they?" She smiled smugly. "I did my best to match my CV to the latest statistics released on human tracking. I, or rather Candice, meets all the requirements. I am between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, a female and uneducated with no real stable job. I am practically asking to be made a sex slave." She paled. "Not that I am, you understand. I can't believe I just said that." She shook her head as though banishing the thought. "Anyway, I listed my last job as a junior sales rep for Unitech Industries."

"They've just retrenched a large portion of their workers," Diggle explained. "It makes sense for Candice Doherty to be looking for a job, and given her work experience she wouldn't find much in the current market. de Santos will see her as a desperate and easy target."

After a moment of silence, Oliver nodded. "This looks good to me."

Felicity smiled tightly. "It must be, because I have been called in for an interview. Now the next step is getting to the interview on time and making sure that the mic ends up in the right office." She glanced at her watch, "Which means we need to leave now, or that's not going to happen."

Standing up, she gathered her stuff, muttering to herself. "Mic, handbag, bus tickets, umm, phone," she reached for her smartphone on the desk, "No, that's the wrong one. Guys, have you seen an old Nokia, about the size of a brick? Mine is way too fancy for Candice to have." She ruffled through the pages on her desk, starting to feel anxious. "I know its here somewhere. I put it down here when I added the sim card. How could I have lost something so big?"

"Here." Diggle said. "I think this is it." He placed the phone in her hand and wrapped her fingers around it. "Are you sure about this, Felicity?"

"No, but I am going to do it anyway." She drew a shaky breath. "I've got to do this. Someone has to stand up for the women of Starling City."

"We'll be with you the entire time." Oliver said. He stepped closer to her, brushed away the hair falling over her shoulder, which sent goosebumps racing down her neck and slipped a communicator onto her ear. "We aren't going to let anything happen to you. Promise."

* * *

A bus trip later and Felicity, or rather Candice Doherty was walking into the reception of de Santos's pseudo-company.

"I have an appointment with Mr de Santos," Felicity said. "It's Candice Doherty." She added when the receptionist looked at her blankly.

"Oh, he'll be with you shortly." The receptionist replied, after glancing at a day planner. She gestured to the row of green upholstered chairs across from her desk. "Have a seat in the meantime."

Nodding her thanks, she sat down and flicked aimlessly through an old Vogue magazine that had been lying a table near the chairs. She stared at the pages without really taking them in as she listened to Oliver's last minute instructions issuing from the tiny speaker in her ear.

"_Remember __once __you __are __in__, __you __need __to __find __a __place __to __put __the __mic__. __Near __the __phone __or __computer __would __be __best__." _ A short pause._ "__If __things __start __going __badly__, __just __say __the __word __and __the __Hood __will __have __you __out __of __there __in __a __flash__. __I __don__'__t __want __you __to __get __hurt __because __of __me__."_

Felicity had to bite her lip to keep from responding, least she give herself away by talking to herself. As it was, it was heartening enough to know that Oliver cared, even if it wasn't in the way she wanted.

"Miss Doherty." Someone called.

"Miss Candice Doherty!" The same voice repeated more loudly, just as Oliver snapped, _"__That__'__s__you__."_

"Oh sorry." Felicity began, instantly flustered. "I was just going over what I wanted to say. Sorry, I'm just really nervous. I kinda really need this job."

Felicity held her breath as she waited for the receptionist to call her out on her lie, but after a moment she simply smiled faintly and gestured that she follow her.

Mentally berating herself, she followed, taking care to pay attention of her surroundings in case she needed to make a quick get away, but she needn't have bothered as de Santos's office was at the end of the corridor.

The receptionist was about to knock when one of the other doors opened and a large man stepped out. "Hey, Sue, do you know if the boss if available yet? I've just had a phone call from Mr Lee about the new girls and -" He broke off suddenly when he noticed Felicity. "Oh hey, beautiful. You looking for a job?"

Felicity nodded mutely, sickened by the leer that had appeared on his face.

"She is here to see Mr de Santos." Sue, the receptionist responded. "You'll be able to see him afterwards, Marco. Now if you don't mind..." She turned and knocked on the door. "Your three o'clock is here."

"Don't worry babe," Marco said as de Santos called for them to enter, "I'm _sure_you'll get a job."

Her heartbeat spiked in fear, as Felicity followed Sue into the office.

Standing behind a large mahogany desk was de Santos. He was of average height, in his mid thirties, with dark brown hair and darker eyes. Despite having seen his picture on the police records, he didn't look all that threatening or sinister. He looked like an honest businessman.

Felicity had to remind herself, that his looks were probably what allowed so many desperate women to trust him. In the words of the Bard himself, de Santos was a dove-feather'd raven, if there ever was one.

"Ah you must be, " he glanced at the folder on the desk, "Candice Doherty." He held out his hand. "I'm Nicolas de Santos."

Knowing that she couldn't avoid it, Felicity reached out and shook his hand.

"Please sit." He smiled and gestured at the seats opposite the desk, while Felicity fought the urge to wipe her hand on her skirt.

Perching on the edge of the chair, she watched as he made his way back to his chair and sat down across from her.

"So, Candice." He paused. "Your don't mind if I call you Candice, do you?"

"Oh, not at all." She said quickly, knowing that he needed her to appear eager to please, even though the idea of it made her skin crawl.

He grinned. "Candice. Tell me a little about yourself. Sell yourself to me."

"Oh um." Felicity hit a blank as her entire cover story disappeared from her mind. She couldn't do this. de Santos was just too slick, too sure of himself. He would know the minute she opened her mouth that she was a mole.

Suddenly, Oliver was there, well not really. He was there, feeding her the lines she desperately needed to hear.

"I'm a very hard worker sir. I was recently retrenched from Unitech Industries, not because I couldn't do my job, but because I was one of the last people the company hired. I am not afraid of hard work and I will do what I must to pay my way."

He flicked through her false C.V. "You didn't complete high school?"

"No, I didn't. My parents died when I was a freshman and rather than end up in a state orphanage, I dropped out and got a job at a garage on a truck route for a while. I eventually found my way to Starling City about a year ago and did a few odd jobs until I got a position at Unitech. And that's it really." She finished off lamely.

de Santos nodded slowly. "Do you have any skills beyond those you put on your C.V.?"

"I don't know if its a skill really, since I'm still learning, but while I was at Unitech, I started taking a typing course." She looked down at her hands folded on her lap, as though she was ashamed, but in reality she was checking on the mic pressed between her fingers. "Unfortunately, I lost my job and I haven't been able to finish."

Felicity looked up, looking as desperate as possible. "If you would please give me a chance Mr de Santos, I promise you that I will do my best. You're my last chance. If I don't find a job soon, I don't know what I'll do."

"Don't worry my dear." de Santos said smoothly. "I'm sure I can find something suitable. I have your details and I will get back to you as soon as something comes up."

"Oh thank you."Felicity lurched to her feet and deliberately stumbled, bring her closer to his desk so she could place to mic on the edge of his desk, out of sight.

"Careful!" He snapped.

Taken aback at the sudden aggression in his tone, Felicity muttered, "Sorry. Sometimes I can be such a clutz."

Obviously hearing the fear in her voice, de Santos immediately got himself under control. "I didn't mean to frighten you," he said quickly. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"_It__'__s __time __to __get __out __of __there__, __Felicity__."_ Oliver murmured a moment later.

"Thank you. Do you have anymore questions for me?" Felicity asked.

"No. I think I have enough information." de Santos replied. "Someone will get hold of you soon. Enjoy the rest of your day, Candice."

Gathering her handbag, Felicity had to forcefully keep herself from running. "Thank you." She said one last time, as she closed his office door behind her.

Walking briskly, she nodded a goodbye to the receptionist and left the building, heading for the bus stop.

* * *

By the time she got off the bus two stops later to meet up with Diggle and Oliver, who had driven round to make sure she hadn't been followed, Felicity had managed to get her nerves under control.

Felicity flung herself into the backseat of Oliver's car and breathed a sigh of a relief.

"Are you alright?" Diggle asked, glancing at her in the rearview mirror, as he drove them back to the club.

"Yeah. I think so. I still feel a little freaked out though. I think I prefer hacking. It's just risky but at least I don't have to lie to someone's face. Even if they are super creepy bad guys." Taking a deep breath, she turned to Oliver. "I just hope that I got the mic into place properly. I was too afraid to check that I had it in the right spot, in case he blew his gasket."

"You did. It's already started recording everything that's going on in the office."

"Well, I hope we get something on this guy soon. I won't deny that he scared me badly. I don't want to have to go near him with a barge pole. He is a menace to society and he needs to go."

"Don't worry." Oliver growled. "You won't need to see him ever again. I'll keep you safe. I swear it."

* * *

**Author****'****s ****Note****:** Thank you everyone for all the amazingly supportive reviews that you have all left me. I can't believe that I have 91 reviews for only two chapters. You are all amazing. To everyone who favourited or put an alert on this story - thank you again and I hope you that you all enjoyed this chapter. Even if it had minimal Olicity in it, but sometimes Felicity needs to do things herself.

I am very sorry about the lateness of this chapter. I expect that you all know how life gets in the way sometimes and it did for me. I went on an overseas trip to Japan (where I came up with the conclusion of this story), wrote essays and exams for my honours course, went on another holiday to Cape Town and carried on with honours. Needless to say this was all in addition to me trying to deal with an ever-growing workload AND writer's block. Anyway, I am starting to feel like Felicity in all my ramblings here, so I hope you can forgive my late update and that you will leave some constructive criticisms and reviews for this chapter.

Thank you all again. You all help keep the smile on my face


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